Tree Faces

Don’t go into the woods! The faces were made from papier mache formed over a wood base then attached via screws to the trunk of a tree, a relatively simple process that yields some rather disturbing results.







The first step involved designing the eyes, nose and mouth. A pattern or template was cut from poster board, then placed on the tree to confirm proper sizing.





The pattern was then transferred to some scrap paneling and cut with a scroll saw.




Homemade papier mache clay was used to sculpt the eye, nose and mouth designs onto the wood cut-outs. The eyeballs were made by molding the shapes from large plastic Easter eggs.





Once the papier mache has dried, the pieces were painted with flat black latex the colorized with diluted acrylics. A light oak stain was also added to “warm up” the colors.




The pieces were attached to the tree with large screws. A pretty simple prop that adds a boost to a yard or would have great potential in a haunted forest or trail.

September WIP (Works In Progress)

I swear I’ve been in a crap ass mood the last couple of days thanks to the weather which has been mostly cold and wet. I’ve had a couple days where I didn’t even look at my props let alone think about working on them…but I have managed to get about eight pieces ready for paint and about six more close to being done.

Tree Faces. These are designed to be attached to a couple of very large trees in our front yard, a spooky greeting for our TOT’s. The challenge will be to paint them so they match the colors of the bark on the real trees…I think they will look pretty cool when done.
Working on three large Cyclops skulls…this is an exercise in weirdness as I’m not sure where they will finally end up...a fun process regardless of how they turn out.
Some ancient skulls I finished a couple of weeks ago. I wanted something that would look like they just came out of an archeological dig…an Indiana Jones prop. They feature a very interesting texture that was the result of coating the prop with a flour and water mixture then blasting with a heat gun until the paste bubbled and cracked…should look nice when painted.
Finally one of three large spider props complete with eight eyeballs and some bristly hair made from strands of an old broom. My stuff in the works…lot’s more to come in the following weeks. Here’s hoping the weather and my mood improve!

Evil Tree Art

This idea has been rattling around my head for a couple of years...make some evil faces for the trees in our front yard, a great and spooky way to greet visitors to our display.

This photo represents what I'm thinking, only a little more (you guessed it) evil. I'm thinking of making the pieces from papier mache clay, possibly adding texture by pressing a real piece of bark (protected with a layer of plastic wrap) into the sculpt.

Lots of possibilities.

This photo is from a site called Genuine Tree Peeple, they sell about a dozen different styles. Check it out, the possibilities are sort of cool.

http://www.genuinetreepeeple.com/default.asp